Mount Pleasant Magazine Nov/Dec 2019

43 www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.BestOfMP.com | www.ReadMPM.com feature children’s hospital, located off Calhoun Street in the heart of the downtown Charleston medical district. There’s an expansive view of the Ashley River from every room in the patient tower, every nurses’ station and even from the dishwasher’s station in the cafeteria. Natural light abounds, a contrast to the usual drab fluorescent lighting found in most hospitals. You can’t miss this glass building that totals 11 stories, which has enhanced the Charleston skyline as you drive onto the peninsula from James Island or West Ashley. It totals 624,000 square feet and has now become recognized as the most expensive building in the state, just short of $400 million. There are 250 licensed beds, a 20% increase from the old hospital, 29 mother/baby postpartum rooms in labor and delivery, all of which have access to kitchens, laundry facilities, showers and plenty of places to lounge when respite is needed. Dr. Mark Scheurer, the hospital’s chief medical officer and clinical lead for the project, said that it was five years ago when MUSC started the legwork of trying to make this dream a reality. “We knew our current children’s hospital wasn’t able to provide the type of environment that our families and patients deserved,” he said. “We needed a place where we could expand services for our community. This hospital among visiting and local children alike. There’s a 3,200-square-foot indoor playground, donated by the Jerry and Anita Zucker Family, and 10,000 square feet of outdoor playground, donated by Boeing, providing much-needed fresh air, swings, plenty of room for bike riding, a movie screen and much more. There’s a game room for teens and pre-teens, other smaller playrooms on every floor, well-intentioned “haint” blue paint, signature to Charleston porches, on the bays above the entrance to the medical-surgical rooms, and there’s a theme for every floor too. Starting on the first floor and moving up to the 10th, patients and visitors will notice the themes: a warm welcome to the Lowcountry; heroes of the Lowcountry; the beaches and marsh; Lowcountry arts; springtime in the Lowcountry; Lowcountry architecture; Lowcountry landscapes; cruising around the Lowcountry; adventures in the Lowcountry; and rooftops over the Lowcountry. In keeping with the Lowcountry landscapes theme of the seventh floor, Bob Hines designed the chapel with a fused- glass representation of the Angel Oak tree on Johns Island. And, for example, the cardiac floor, is the beaches and marsh floor because marshes resemble the arteries to our hearts. It was this kind of thought process that set the tone for the entire planning and implementation of the new Courtesy of Perkins&Will. Photo by Tonya McGue.